The Palace ace has been out of action for several weeks this season, with the Eagles failing to win a game without him in the Premier League so far during the course of the campaign.

He has recently been out for just over a month, but returned for Palace yesterday (Saturday) as he came on as a half time substitute in Palace's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.

And the BBC pundit thinks keeping him fit is key for the Eagles as they bid to avoid relegation.

"It is doubly hard [for Palace]," he said, speaking on BBC programme Football Focus as he assessed the battle to avoid relegation with Palace back into the bottom three, having previously got themselves out of it.